I showed a friend of mine a photo of this house and he said “that’s a beach house”. A house with casual imperfections. You can relax and sit without having to worry that your sunscreen will stain expensive slipcovers. Better yet, the old hardwood floors which have been tested through the years, still can handle some sand. Sweeping might be a thing of the past but not on this “old beach cottage” we call the Royal Cabana.

Some of the old fashioned beach houses are disappearing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, just like they are disappearing in many beach communities throughout the United States. We came to these houses for their simplicity, for the beach, to run around, have fun and relax. Rehoboth Beach still has a few and if you want to experience old time charm, the Royal Cabana will be a good choice. It has history, as well. This house is well over 100 years old. It was, actually, moved from Baltimore Avenue to Lake Avenue in the 1990s. Yes, here in Delaware we move houses. If only its walls could talk. I am sure they would be filled with stories from the families that called this beach house home. I call it a well lived home.

Located by the award winning Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk, it is a quiet street at night. During the day you can enjoy the beach, the kids can walk the boardwalk and go to Funland. On weekends, music by the Bandstand is always fun. You can walk everywhere from this house. Hit the 3 main streets in Rehoboth Beach; Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Ave., and Wilmington Ave. for shopping, dining and listening to music on any given night. Or, you might want to enjoy the Porch and stay put.

A screened in porch in the back.

One of the joys of coming out of the ocean is taking a shower outdoors.

The Royal Cabana is pefect for multi-generational reunions, large groups, families, and friends get togethers. I remember last year there was a bachelorette party that stayed at the beach house too.

It can sleep 18 people and everyone in their own bed.

When arriving at the Royal Cabana…..wine and flowers on the table, old fashioned candy, and chips are welcoming after a long trip.

For more information, please email royalcabanallc@gmail.com. This house is also listed on AirBnB. Look for Rehoboth Beach House with an Ocean View. It is hosted by Cabana Boy and he answers quickly.

July 23rd, 2018

Many years ago when I first came to the Delaware Beaches, Bethany Beach became my home for a long time. My first friendships were made there. Over the years life happens. Happyness, marriages, children, grandchildren, divorces, and yes, even death have impacted our lives. New friends have been made but you always remember those first ones. We were so young then.

Deveraux is one of those friends that then moved out of town. We still text or call during our birthdays in March, but we have not been together much. This week-end she came to Rehoboth Beach. Oh yes, this rainy weekend, so no beach time for us but plenty of activity, eating and catching up did happen.

Friday was going to be the best day so she arrived by lunch time. Arriving in Downtown Rehoboth Beach, we were hungry. Something light is what we wanted. We decided on The Back Porch. This restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in Downtown Rehoboth Beach. Liked by many and in competition with plenty of other restaurants in town. I had not been there in quite a few years.

Deveraux had the Seared Day Scallops, Thai Red Curry, and Sesame Noodles. She loved this dish.

I had the Burrata Salad, which was light and very good. Would have loved to have had it topped with scallops or something else but there were no changes to be made at The Back Porch. I can see if the restaurant was crowded but with only a couple of people having lunch at 2 p.m. what would have been the big deal? Go figure.

Happy Hour at my house with Annie visiting from Bethany Beach. Deveraux had made marinated Chicken Wings…Gluten Free. Easy fixing. First cook the wings in oil in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Then make a marinade of Whiskey, brown sugar and mustard. You can mix different kinds of mustards. Then marinade for at least 24 hours. Put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about half hour or so. Check them and if you like them well done then you know what you need to do.

Friday really was a perfect day. Our next stop was going to be a(Muse), located on Baltimore Ave. in Downtown Rehoboth Beach. This restaurant is great for foodies. If you are one of those people that want quantity vs. quality, then this might not be an eatery for you. All we wanted was to graze. A little bit of this or a little bit of that.

Two different types of Rose for us. One dryer than the other. Perfect.

We also ordered a salad of Baby Kale, boquerones, pine nuts, golden raisins, lemon vinaigrette dressing and parmesan cheese. Boquerones are originally from Spain. I think they are delicious. They are fresh anchovies, marinated in vinegar.

Our next shareable was the Middleneck Clams…they had country ham, tomatillo, and green tomato. I had a problem with this dish. It look so beautiful and appetizing. But, it really was too spicy and you could not taste the steamed clams. And yes, we did tell our server. Usually you would have liked to dip bread in this sauce, but not this time. Honestly said, hopefully they took the hint.

The pasta with Maryland Crab, heirloom tomato, celery and fennel was a dish we really ennjoyed and wished we would have ordered the whole portion instead of the half. You could have this with a salad and be pretty content.

Our sweet ending of 3 scoops of our choice of ice cream was truly excellent. Made in house. They were delicious. One was a Brie Ice Cream, a Vanilla, and I cannot remember the other.

We took off for the Bandstand to listen to the last of the music.

And last but not least…..Funland to play Whack a Mole. This is a tradition and a must. Sorry Deveraux, but I had to put you on the blog.

And so our weekend did continue. Sometimes there is no friend like an old friend. These types of friendships are the comfort food of our relationships.

When we share a meal with friends, it is so much more than food (really?)…and, when we share it with girlfriends, and for purposes of this post, like the Swirl Girls, then it is really priceless. Some of us have known each other for years while others, are getting to know each other very fast. Here we were trying to figure out which table would be the best one. Right after Memorial week-end we had the place to ourselves since we arrived early. We did not want a big table. We like to be cozy in order to get that conversation going. The group had just gone to watch the Book Club, if you get my drift.

The majority of us had not yet dined at Our Harvest. This restaurant located at 1106 Coastal Hwy., Fenwick Island, DE 19944, opened last year. Every day, at 5:00 p.m., you can come in and experience a way of eating that has become so popular in the U. S. Telephone is 302-581-0377. No reservations are accepted. The website is http://www.ourharvestde.com.

As the season progresses please have in mind when you would like to eat. You have to have a plan because it gets crowded at the Delaware Beaches. If you arrive and there is a wait, you could have cocktails, relaxing in their bar or in any of the very comfortable leather sofas.

There is an open concept kitchen. You really can see how the kitchen is running. I have to tell you that I probably should have come to try Our Harvest last year. I love their sister restaurant, Liquid Assets, in Ocean City, MD, and I did not want to like this one more. Guess what? They are completely different.

The menu was presented and our server knew the menu well. She explained the concept of eating small plates and shareables. At that moment all we wanted was some wine. Having watched the Book Club, wine was very much consumed by the characters. It was time to relax. The wine that you see at the table was from South Africa. A full bodied Merlot called Immortal Hero.

At first you are a bit overwhelmed because you, actually, do not know how much to order for the table. And, we all have our likes and dislikes. We managed to do a good job and we were all very pleased with how the evening was progressing. Could not believe Jane Fonda looks that good at 81… I know, I know.

We all decided to have a small plate to start our dining experience. Every time I see the offering of a Grilled Caesar Salad, I order it. Years ago I had it at a restaurant in Hagerstown, Maryland. Since then, a few have gotten close at how good that one tasted so I wanted to see how this one would be, more so because it had Boquerones which are white anchovies. They are very mild and usually they are marinated in vinegar. It gives the salad a kick. I will have to say that this Caesar was excellent.

Others ordered the Salt Roasted Beets & Two Cheeses. Served on a wooden plank it had whipped ricotta, Stracciatella, local greens, black pepper and beet vinaigrette. Stracciatella cheese is produced from Italian buffalo milk in the southern Italian region of Apulia. They use a stretching and shredding technique. This particular small plate could have been shared by two people.

We ordered the Spring Harvest Flatbread. A crispy crust filled with local peas, ramps, morel mushrooms, local asparagus, ricotta, gruyere mornay, green garlic pesto and crispy capers. Ramps are a special type of wild onion, found in eastern Canada and U.S. And a Gruyere mornay is a bechamel sauce that has Gruyere cheese added to it. It was delicious but to tell you the truth we probably ordered too much. Not that we did not eat it, by the way.

“Friendship is a delicious meal to be shared off one large plate.” So, we decided to order our large plates. This particular dish I truly loved. It was called the Vegan Feast. It was a whole wood fire roasted head of cauliflower, benne cashew crumb, and a lemon garlic vegan aioli. At first we thought it was cheese but it was the benne cashew crumb. Cashews are lower in fat than other nuts. You can find online a lot of recipes for this vegan seed.

A very popular dish at Our Harvest is a whole Amish air chilled chicken…Arnold Palmer brine, (sweet tea and lemonade brine chicken, I believe), wood fired with lemon and rosemary. Liquid Assets has an amazing chicken, as well. Both chickens are completely different and delicious in more ways than one. We ordered TWO.

Needless to say, no need for dessert. We decided that definitely we would be back. Thanks to our server and also to the hostess that so graciously explained to me how the restaurant worked.

And so I end my post with this quote from John Lanchester….”Hospitality is central to the restaurant business, yet it’s a hard idea to define precisely. Most, it involves being nice to people and making them feel welcome. You notice it when it’s there, and you particularly notice it when it isn’t. A single significant lapse in this area can be your dominant impression of an entire meal.”

I have been on a roll….purging my closets, getting organized. Why do we accummulate so much stuff? It is true, that if you have not worn it or used it for a couple of years, then donate it to someone that can enjoy it. With that thought in mind and with the other thought that “someone’s trash is another person’s treasure”, I kept packing bag after bag. The Thrift Shop at Midway Shopping Center on Coastal Highway was not taking anymore clothing; only shoes, bags and other items. There is another one on the Forgotten Mile run by the Episcopal Church. Since then I have found out that there are plenty of other shops in the area. People have the same thoughts at this time of the year.

A few friends suggested I take some of my things to a consignment shop. That they do and enjoy getting that extra cash in their pockets. I started thinking about it and that is how I ended up calling Christine’s Consignments. This cute little shop is located at 200-A Rehoboth Ave., in Downtown Rehoboth Beach, DE. Tel. 302-226-1126. If you decide you would like to take some of your treasures that you no longer need to Christine’s, please give them a call so that you can make an appointment. At the time of the appointment you can bring your goodies so they can go through them. And please don’t take it personal if they don’t choose everything you brought that you thought was the best. Seasonal things is what they want and they want them to be in good shape and worthy of resale. If you keep that in mind you will do great.

Just like in any shop the clothing is divided in sections. There are new arrivals and also designer clothing racks.

This weekend in Downtown Rehoboth Beach are the much awaited and very well attended Sidewalk Sales. Hope you can make it. All weekend long, you will be able to get tremendous discounts, and find fabulous accessories. These sales start today, Friday, May 18th and continue through Sunday, May 20th, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. but some store hours may vary. Please check that out. It is going to be a rainy weekend but do not worry those sales are here to stay. Tax free shopping in Delaware!!

Christine’s Consignments has another location at 42 Atlantic Ave., in Ocean View, near Bethany Beach. That telephone is 302-829-1425.

If you are bringing some of your treasures to Christine’s Consignments once they have gone through the items you will be given a number. And you will also sign a very simple contract. You should give them time to sell your items. And, you can discuss with them what you would like to do if items are not sold. They do donate to the local charities things that are not sold.

Like any other shop, items come and go quickly. The inventory is always changing. So probably is not one of those shops that you would likely say “I have been there already”. Always something new at very good prices. You are spending time at the beach and let’s say you forgot your accessories, Christine’s Consignments would be perfect to grab that item that will finish your look.

I hope you have a great weekend. Good luck finding your treasures!! Give them a chance second time around!

March 30th, 2018

In 2006 Rooster’s Nest opened its doors and it has become a must stop kind of a shop. It is located at the Bayville Shopping Center on 37244 Lighthouse Rd., #108 in West Fenwick Island. Easy to get to from all Delaware Beaches and Ocean City, Maryland. Tel 302-436-1848. Website? http://www.roostersnest.com.

The Propietors are Sally Welsh and Bill Shoemaker. You can find find gifts, home furnishing and one of a kind pieces. All under one roof with very good price points.

So the other day I took a trip from Rehoboth to see what they were showing for Easter. Weather is getting warmer, thank God, and Spring is here!! That means a lot of us might want to refresh that certain room in the house, or buy something for friends’ birthdays; plenty of weddings are coming up. Sally told me that they had just finished redoing the store. The calm colors on the walls and the repositioning of furniture, it actually, makes it look bigger. They have so many neat things.

Sally pointed to me these birdhouses she had just gotten in. And the little shoes that could be displayed in so many ways.

Love the forever greenery. This is new to the store.

Paper placemats and table runners. Are they are trend or are they here to stay? They are sold in pads and there is so much to choose from for every occasion. They look great and they are not that expensive, either. You can use them daily, for small gatherings or big affairs. And, they can transform a table from boring to super fun and elegant, as well. And when finished, just throw them away. Rooster’s Nest has some really fun ones. They also have table runners.

Rooster’s Nest has a new line of bags….Katie Loxton from London. So affordable. Good looking too. Fun, small bags that convey a message to a special friend, a mother, and for bridesmaids.

I toured the store with nothing in mind to buy but ended up getting a few things. You cannot resist the tempetation. Love the colors of blues for the summer.

The line of jewelry by Julie Vos is beautiful. It is a little bit more pricey and the reason for that is that they are made of semi-precious stones, pearls and imported glass. It is hand-set in 24k gold plate so it will not tarnish. Made in the U.S.A. The right accessory can make of break an outfit. Keep that in mind.

December 15th, 2017

“Our many different cultures notwithstanding, there’s something about the holidays that makes the planet communal. Even nations that do not celebrate Christmas can’t help but be caught up in the collective spirit of their neighbors, as twinkling lights dot the landscape and carols fill the air. It’s an inspiring time of the year.” marlo thomas

When you think about it Christmas gives us an opportunity for reflection. Another year has gone by and next year is full of promise.

Our Delaware Beaches are full of visitors still. It has been so many years when these beaches used roll up their sidewalks on Labor Day. They are true year-round resorts. Shopping local and getting into the Christmas Spirit took me the other day to Wharton’s, located at 19385 Old Landing Rd., Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. It is by WalMart. Tel. 302-227-0913. Website? www.whartonslandscaping.com

It is a one stop shop at this time of the year. Besides offering landscaping services, Wharton’s has gorgeous Christmas trees, wreaths and everything you can imagine to get your home ready for the holidays.

If you come at the end of the day, Wharton’s is illuminated. From the outdoors you can enter the shop.

Lots of photos on this post because we are so visual, and pictures are worth a thousand words, plus this place is beautiful. Gifts for the entire family, including your pet.

Perfect customer service. Some of you visiting might see some familiar faces.

Inside, the shop is well appointed, displaying a wide variety of home decor.

Having guests over and no time for baking pies? Say no more….A variety of pies that you can bake the night before are ready to go, as well. The Apple Brown Betty was delicious and so was the Chicken Pot Pie.

It is never too late to add something to your holiday shopping….maybe pamper yourself a little. Merry Christmas!!

August 30th, 2017

“I have had a good life.” john merryman, III…Those were my late husband’s, John, words a few days before he passed away on August 31, 2013. I will keep this post short as he did not want his family to dwell on his passing. He wanted us to move forward and so we have, one foot in front of the other. I always say that 10% is what happens to you and the rest 90% is how you react. It does not matter how prepared we are for a loved one’s departure eternally from our side, it is still an adjustment.

Our friends mention him a lot. He was hard to forget. A dry sense of humor, quiet, and a true gentleman. My good friends are always at my side. Tomorrow they will be there, as well. We will have dinner and remember the good times we had with him. He was a foodie when the word was not even in the dictionary.

He loved Michael and John above all else. John is 33 and Michael is turning 30 on 9/4. Getting together with friends was priceless.

Our friends, Annie, Cathy, and Ron he would be so thankful for all the help they have given me.

One person that he would have enjoyed immensely would have been our granddaughter, Sophia. She is something else.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain….” So, life continues, as it should, one step at a time.

Note: Close to my heart is the research currently under way at Temple Health for Pulmonary Hypertension. If you have someone in need of help please contact Dr. Anjali Vaidya, MD, FACC, FASE, FACP, Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant 215-707-7636 or write anjali.vaidya@tuhs.temple.edu. If you would like to contribute, please contact Katie Beddis, Senior Director of Development, Medical Education and Research Building. 215-707-9459, or write Kbeddis@temple.edu. Ask for information and mention my name, Gloria Merryman.

November 28th, 2016

Starting a diet on Monday…resolutions usually start on Monday, not in the middle of the week, right? Monday is a fresh start for most of us. Not eating meat on Monday, apparently, is not a new concept. There is also Wheatless Wednesday.

The awareness of Meatless Monday was reintroduced as a public health awareness campaign. It has taken off more so since 2003, with many restaurants offering Meatless Monday dishes. In our homes this is a concept easily adopted as 1, 2 3.

We need it today because after all the eating on Thanksgiving….some of us started before that, LOL. This recipe for Spinach Pie was given to me by my cousins in Puerto Rico. It is one of those recipes that is good, only 5 ingredients, and you can serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner….adding or topping it with whatever comes to mind to make it your own. I hope you like it.

SPINACH PIE

1 package spinach – 10 ounces

1 block cream cheese (I use the less fat one)

1 onion

4 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease lightly a pie dish. Let spinach defrost and squeeze it to get all the water out. While the spinach is defrosting take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator. You want it a bit soft.

In a blender put eggs, spinach and cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. I usually just add the pepper. Blend.

Pour into the pie dish.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top to cover. The cheese will make a crust and will add taste to the pie.

It will take probably another 20 minutes to be ready. Test it. It should have a nice rich, and brown crust.

Take it out of the oven, slice, and enjoy!!

Have a great day!!

Note: If you want it to be gluten free, please grate the Parmesan cheese yourself.